Los Angeles, May 9 (IANS): Actor Mark Wahlberg says after his jail stint at the age of 16, he decided to change and look for a right path for himself.

The 41-year-old actor had been jailed for attacking a man. He has been in trouble with the police for over 20 times during his teens.

“It's a process. Hearing the sound of those jail house doors closing - that was one of those moments. For me, it was like, 'Wow this is not where I want to be. This is not the direction I want to go in. I have to start to get my head in the right place.'” contactmusic.com quoted him as saying.

The actor also admitted that his first relationship got over because of that reason and he was left with a broken heart. But after meeting his wife Rhea Durham things have changed.

The father of four said: “I was a very nice guy early on. The first time I fell in love, and when I was in jail, she denied me, she didn't want to wait for me. I don't want to blame her now, but my heart was broken and I decided, 'I'm never giving my heart to a girl anymore.' Everything, but not that.”

"And I ended up hurting a lot of people along the way. It was not until I met my wife and we had our daughter that I went, 'Oh my God, this is happening for a reason.' So now I have the utmost respect for women and teach my boys that. They shall not take the path that daddy took,” he added.